over, and the two of us got into it over how cagey he was being about his new boy. I wanted to be
happy for my friend, but it was hard when I could see him still holding back. Despite my reputation as
someone who didn’t hold back, I wasn’t a fan of upsetting those closest to me. When he abruptly
ended my lecture about treating Slade like more than a booty call, I busied myself following Sam,
making sure everything was set up for the night. It was, of course. Sam wouldn’t have anything less
than perfection.
Shortly after, the doors opened, and customers startled trickling in. Everything was going great
until I noticed Corey, conspicuously absent behind the bar. That wasn’t unusual, but it was odd for
him to disappear for extended periods of time. No matter what I’d ever assumed about him, when he
was here, he was focused. And now, he was gone?
Ratcheting my concern up a few notches was the fact Doug and Eli were manning the bar. It
wasn’t that they weren’t capable, but Doug didn’t even help out at Eli’s club, so seeing him trying—
and failing—to pour a pint of beer was amusing.
“Have I stepped into some strange alternate universe?” I asked as I helped myself to the bottle of
whiskey that was still sitting at the end of the bar, emptier than it had been a few nights ago when I’d
needed to muffle my self-flagellation over how I’d pushed Corey. “What happened to the bartender?
You didn’t poach him, did you?”
“Ha! I wish,” Eli scoffed. “Besides his aversion to working weekends, he’s too damn loyal to
Jack. And, I mean, I get it. The clientele here is different from at 83.”
Fair point. Now that Eli mentioned it, it was a bit odd that Corey preferred sticking with
weeknight shifts for the most part. It was most likely due to the other job he’d mentioned. The job I
knew nothing about because I’d been so off-kilter after finding him peacefully sleeping on the couch
that my brain had shorted out.
“He asked Jack if it was okay for him to check out the playroom,” Doug informed me. He was
definitely the more helpful of the pair. I had known Doug almost as long as I’d known Jack, and it
wasn’t an exaggeration to say I had never seen him as happy as he was now that he and Eli were back
together with Jordan to dote on.
Without bothering to pour myself a drink, I pushed back from the bar. If Corey was in the
playroom, I wanted to see what he was up to.
Doug quirked an eyebrow.You’ve got it bad.
